Ollie Pope was sent back for an early lunch on day 1 of the ongoing fifth and final Test between India and England at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) in Dharamsala on Thursday as he was outwitted by India's premier left-arm wrist spinner, Kuldeep Yadav.
Batting in the last over of play before lunch, Pope misread the line of the ball and was stumped by miles as India grabbed their second breakthrough of the game.
Facing the third delivery of the 26th over, Pope danced down the track in a premeditated manner and played down the wrong line as he tried to work the ball on the on-side for a single.
Kuldeep used his guile to outmanoeuvre Pope and leave him bewildered. The England batter wore a look of despair on his face after he realised his gaffe and slowly walked away towards the visitor's dressing room as the on-field umpires called for an early lunch.
Watch the video of Pope's dismissal:
Meanwhile, the outcome of the fifth Test in Dharamsala is far from a dead rubber as it holds contrasting significance for both teams. For India, a win will help them consolidate their position at the top of the WTC (World Test Championship 2023-25) points table whereas for the Three Lions a favourable result will help them salvage their pride.
Notably, this is only the 2nd Test being played at the venue. The first-ever Test that was played in Dharamsala saw India lock horns with Australia in March 2017.
India's playing XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
England's playing XI:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, Mark Wood, James Anderson
More to follow........
